


Don't Go Dyin' on Me

by CrimsonBitch



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Asthma, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Sick Character, Sickfic, not original content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26609506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonBitch/pseuds/CrimsonBitch
Summary: *NOT ORIGINAL WORK this is based on "What the Hell" by ash_mcj*"She had learned a while ago that when it came to Colin, she didn’t really have to worry about pushing boundaries. She knew topics where she had to tread lightly, but she also knew that like all people, Milkoviches craved comfort; particularly, feverish and exhausted Milkovich's."When Colin gets sick and refuses to admit to it, it's up to Fiona to do what she does best. Completely ignore the pushback and insist on letting her mother hen nature take over completely.
Relationships: Fiona Gallagher/Colin Milkovich
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Don't Go Dyin' on Me

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What the Hell](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26006848) by [ash_mcj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ash_mcj/pseuds/ash_mcj). 



For a long time, Fiona had wondered whether some people were simply not meant to be parents. She had heard the term ‘maternal and paternal instincts’ thrown around since she was a kid, but she was pretty sure that Frank and Monica were severely lacking there. 

Fiona likes to think she has maternal instincts, despite not being a mom. She cooks dinner, and helps with homework, and makes them take baths. She loves them like a mom, and she’s pretty sure that’s more than Monica ever did. 

One thing that she learned early was dealing with illness. Without enough money for doctors trips and flu shots and medicine, Fiona knew the earliest signs and most effective homemade remedies for any kinds of sickness. 

This sixth sense is why she felt a pang of worry when she entered art history on Wednesday, and saw Colin sitting at their shared desk, with his hooded head laying on his arms on the desk. 

“Hey Milkovich, you sleepin’ through classes now?” Fiona said lowly as she slipped into her seat. Colin turned his head enough to look at her.

“Mandy and Mickey caught some sort of cold from hell, and I was up all fuckin’ night rubbing backs and dosing nyquil” 

“Ohh yeah, sounds familiar. Last year, everyone in my family got some nuclear stomach bug, and the whole times’a blur because I’m pretty sure I didn’t sleep for three days”

“Least it ain’t pukin’” Colin half-smiled. Fiona smiled back, then squinted at him. 

“Sure you aren’t catchin it? You do look kinda pale”. On instinct, Fiona’s hand went to feel his forehead, and he batted it away last minute. 

“I ain’t sick Gallagher, and I ain’t one of your kids. Quit hoverin’”

“My bad” Fiona muttered, embarrassed. 

“Don’t sweat it. I don’t get sick. Probably been exposed to every kinda germ livin’ under the damn sun in my hellhole of a house anyways.”

“Yeah” Fiona conceded, “Me too. It really sucks when we actually do get sick, though, because everyone still needs us.”

“I’m not commiserating with you Gallagher. I repeat, I don’t get sick”

“Fine Colin” Fiona grinned, “But don’t come knockin’ on my door when your sick ass needs nyquil because the damn kids drank it all” 

Colin smirked, “Don’t hold your breath Gallagher”

“ _ Shh _ . Quit distractin’ me Milkovich. I gotta focus” 

“Yeah, like fuckin’ Lavinge has anything worth teachin’ us anyways” 

“Got that right” Fiona breathed out. 

* * *

That night, Fiona was making dinner with Ian sitting at the counter, working on an English Essay. 

“Hey, Ian” Fiona feigned casualty, “Is there any bugs goin’ around your school yet?” 

“I mean, some people are getting colds I guess, but nothing too serious really, why?”

“Colin just said Mandy and Mickey were sick, so I was wondering if I should be preparing for something” 

“I mean if it’s enough to take the Milkovich's out, maybe we oughta worry, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about it” 

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m probably just paranoid. Hey, head upstairs and round everyone up? Spaghetti’s done”

“You got it Fi”

* * *

On Thursday, Fiona could say she was genuinely concerned. When she entered Art History, Colin wasn’t there, and ten minutes passed before he finally entered the classroom.

“Mr. Milkovich” Mr. Lavigne drawled, “Care to explain what you were doing for the first ten minutes of my class” 

Colin rolled his eyes, “Yeah I had your fat fuckin’ wife bent over one of the tables in the fuckin’ cafeteria” He muttered, his voice scratchier than normal, “Now don’t lemme interupt” 

Lavigne glared, but he knew better than to try and give the boy detention. He didn’t need any Milkovich’s showing up on his doorstep after hours. 

When Colin sat down, Fiona immediately noticed how pale the older boy looked, the only color in his face being his flushed cheeks.

“You sure you haven’t caught whatever the kids had? You look like shit Colin” Fiona said quietly. 

“I’m fuckin’ fine Gallagher, you ain’t my fuckin’ mother”

“First of all, we both know that older siblings are a whole hell of a lot better than mothers, and also there’s no way you’re healthy, dipshit”

“I’m just tired, Fi, Jesus Chri-” He cut himself off with a hacking cough, and Fiona nearly recoiled back. She hadn’t heard any of her kids cough like that before, and it was too wet to not be concerning.

“Bullshit Colin, but I won’t push” Fiona grumbled. 

“Cool” Colin rasped out. 

The rest of the class passed by in silence, with Fiona occasionally giving Colin a worried once-over. He ignored it. Fiona got the distinct vibe that sickness was frowned upon in the Milkovich household. Viewed as a weakness. She understood why Colin was reacting the way he was, but it still pissed her off to be so closed out. 

They parted ways after class without a word. Fiona was trying to give Colin the cold shoulder, but he seemed too out of it to care, making Fiona worry even more if there was a fever involved. 

Friday, Colin didn’t even show up to school, and Fiona bounced her foot throughout all of Art History, unable to focus on what the hell Lavigne was talking about. 

After class, she was walking back to her locker when she saw Jamie standing around with some friends. She steeled the worry on her face before approaching the group and tapping Jamie on the back. 

“Who the fu-... Gallagher?” He asked, before his angry expression morphed into something more flirty, “Wasn’t expectin’ to receive a visit. What can I do for ya?”

“Turn it down about 20 notches there casanova, I just wanted to ask where Colin is today” 

“Of fuckin’ course you do.” Jamie sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look, the official line is that he’s on a run with our dad, but because it’s you?” he whispered, “He looked like he was about to pass out this morning” 

“Course he did. What happened to Colin Milkovich not gettin’ sick”

“Ha! That’s some bullshit right there. He doesn’t very often, but when he does it hits him like a fuckin’ truck. He’s got that fuckin’ lung thing with the no breathing ‘n shit”

“What, you mean Asthma? Seriously?”. Fiona had babysat some kids with asthma before, and she knew first hand how much it sucked without some mega-cold added in. 

“Yeah, it doesn’t really flare up though, unless he’s sick” 

“Shit, is he okay?” Fiona bit her lip. 

“Yeah, he should be fine. I called them this morning, he’s just been sleeping all day” 

“Okay good” Fiona muttered, “Thanks Jamie” 

“Anytime, sexy” Jamie whispered, causing Fiona to roll her eyes before walking away. She was worried, but she needed to remind herself that Colin was a big boy. He could handle whatever it was he had, and he didn’t need some needy little freshman with boundary issues hovering and feeling for fever.

That night, she was pretty quiet during dinner, only asking the kids questions about their days and not offering details about her own day. Luckily, the kids had some pretty entertaining anecdotes, so she mostly forgot about Colin and the mystery illness. She had her own people to worry about, and she couldn’t afford to worry about an extra person who didn’t even want it. If he needed her, he’d let her know, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath. 

By the time she was reading Debbie a bedtime story and making sure Carl had brushed his teeth, she was too tired to be thinking about Colin. She showered and brushed her teeth nearly on autopilot, and crawled into bed and fell asleep near instantly. 

* * *

She was awoken by the sound of violent banging on the door. She stumbled out of her room, and saw Ian standing in the boys doorway, rubbing his eyes. 

“Go back to bed kid” Fiona whispered, “I’ll take care if this”

“Okay Fi” he croaked. 

Fiona lumbered down the stairs, noting that the clock said nearly 1 am. She grabbed the bat off the wall, and creeped towards the door. She nudged it open and pulled the bat back, ready to swing. 

She stopped in her movement quickly when she saw that her target wasn’t some creep, but rather a little blonde boy standing on her doorstep, shivering in nothing but a t-shirt and jeans, despite the below freezing temperature outside . 

“Iggy?” She asked incredulously, “What the fuck are you doing here?”. She put the bat down and grabbed one of the boys winter jackets off the hook, wrapping it around his shoulders. 

“Sorry to bother you Fiona” Iggy said quietly, “I just didn’t know where to go”

“Hey, hey, that’s okay” She assured, kneeling down to look him in the eye, “What do you need Iggs?”

“It’s Colin. He’s real sick, and we ain’t got any nyquil left. I told ‘em I’d grab more, but Terry took the rest of the cash, so I was wondering’ if you got any I could borrow. Well, I take then repay you later, when we have the cash”

Fiona took a second to process. “Yeah, we got some nyquil, give me a second”

Fiona grabbed some supplies from the bathroom in a plastic bag, adding in some gatorades and cans of soup from the kitchen. If they didn’t have nyquil, who knows what else they might be missing. 

“Thanks, Fiona” He muttered as he handed her the bag and spun around. 

“Hey slow your roll Iggs” Fiona said as she pulled her coat, scarf, and bag on, “I’m comin’ with” 

“Huh? You don’t need to come, we’ve got it under control”

“Listen kid, I’m sure you guys are on top of it, but I’ve been taking care of sick people since my parents crapped out Lip, so I’d consider myself a little more experienced”

“Alright, your life I guess” He shrugged, but Fiona didn't think it was presumptuous to note there was definitely some relief in his voice. 

Fiona and Iggy speed walked down the street, ignoring the druggies and random drunks yelling at each other in the street. Fiona’s pretty sure she heard Frank’s voice, but her mind was too preoccupied. She wasn’t quite sure what instincts she had towards Colin, but she knew they were going overload right now. She realized suddenly she never even changed out of her pyjama pants. 

By the time they made it to the Milkovich porch, Fiona couldn’t feel her toes due to the cold. Despite this, they were both flushed from the run. 

“Terry’s passed out on the couch, so like, shhh” Iggy murmured, and Fiona nodded severely. 

They opened the door slowly, and tip toed towards the back of the house, both eyeing Terry, who happened to be snoring on the couch. Finally, they reached a room in the back of the house, and nudged the door open. The dim light revealed a bed in the middle full of Milkoviches. 

Fiona’s brain damn near shorted out when she saw Colin sitting in the middle of the bed. His face was totally flushed, and his fists were tightly wound in the sheets. He was doubled over coughing, and gasping for breath between coughs. 

Mandy and Mickey were alternating who was rubbing his back and who was nervously glancing between him and the newcomers. Fiona took a second to take in the scene before rushing into action. 

“Hey guys” She whispered as she pulled off her bag, “Not to barge in, but I’m just gonna take over for a minute”

She kneeled on the bed, and Mickey and Mandy backed away. Colin looked at her, his anger and confusion at her appearance seemingly overtaken by the pure panic of not being able to breathe. 

“Alright, let’s start with this” Fiona murmured, taking his hands and bringing them behind his head. She rubbed his back and “Now, breathe slowly. I know it seems impossible, but the panicking is only making it worse” 

After probably five or so minutes of this, Colin was still wheezing, but it was slightly less strained. 

“He got an inhaler?” Fiona directed the question at the gang of younger Gallaghers who were still looking worriedly over the pair on the bed. 

“Yeah, somewhere” Iggy whispered, not moving a muscle.

“You, uhh.. wanna go get it?” Fiona asked. 

This sent the siblings into action, each scurrying around, looking on shelves and in boxes of crap scattered around his room. 

“They’re kind of like chickens with their heads cut off” Fiona whispered to Colin, who managed a half-smile, despite still breathing heavily with a wet cough creeping in occasionally. 

“Got it” Mandy hissed, throwing an inhaler that looked like it had been through a rock tumblr towards Fiona, who inspected it. “A little beat up, and pretty expired, but it should do the trick” She said as she shook it up and handed it to Colin, who took it as prescribed. 

The whole room held their breath as Colin did, and when he breathed out, the tension in the room dissipated immediately. Mandy threw herself at Colin, wrapping her arms around his neck, and he hugged her back. 

Iggy and Mickey hung back, but joined in the group hug when Colin gestured towards them. 

“Sorry for freakin’ you guys out” Colin said, his voice sounding painful even to Fiona, “Didn’t mean to” 

“It’s okay Colin” Mickey said, pulling away and clearing his throat awkwardly, “Just glad you didn’t die... or whatever” 

“Yeah kid, whatever you say” Colin said, “Anyway, you guys have to go back to bed. Seriously.”

Mandy and Mickey nodded, both nodding to Fiona on their way out. Iggy lingered a little bit longer. 

“You guys gonna… be okay?” Iggy asked the two of them quietly. 

“Yeah” Colin said, punching Fiona’s shoulder lightly, “Gallagher’s gone full Nightengale, apparently. We’re good, Iggs”. He still looked worried.

“I’ve taken care of much worst patients Iggy, I can handle it.” She smiled, “Thanks for comin’ to get me” 

“Technically, you followed me, but whatever. Thanks for comin’ Fiona” Iggy said, giving her a soft glance and leaving the room. 

Fiona looked at Colin, who was already looking at her. Suddenly, Colin dragged his arms around Fiona’s shoulders and laid back, dragging her with him. Fiona let out a surprised laugh, but went with it anyways, allowing her head to burrow in his shoulder. 

“Where the fuck did you learn how to do all that Gallagher?” Colin rasped out. Fiona grinned. 

“Daycare kids. Think anyone in the neighborhood can afford a doctor's trip just because their kid can’t breathe?”

“Good point. I’m pretty sure I lifted this thing off some kid at school in, like, second grade” He said, holding up the inhaler.

“Scared the crap outta me. What happened to ‘Milkoviches don’t get sick?” Fiona teased him, and he half-heartedly smiled. 

“I don’t know Gallagher. Let’s just pretend this never happened, okay?”

“I’m still half asleep, man. As far as I’m concerned, it didn’t” 

“I’d let you crash, but I’m pretty sure whatever I have is probably contagious”

“I’m not too worried. You were clearly sick at school, so if I was gonna get it, It would’ve happened by now” 

Colin shrugged. “Thanks for this Gallagher. You can go if you wanna” 

Fiona looked up at him, unable to focus on what he was saying. Slowly, with a sudden burst of bravery, she reached her hand up. She twirled her finger in one of his blonde curls, which had scrunched up due to the sweat on his forehead. He tensed up, clearly uncomfortable with the action, but not willing to stop Fiona. 

She had learned a while ago that when it came to Colin, she didn’t really have to worry about pushing boundaries. She knew topics where she had to tread lightly, but she also knew that like all people, Milkoviches craved comfort; particularly, feverish and exhausted Milkovichs. 

“It’s pretty dangerous for a girl like me to be walking the streets alone. I oughta just stay here tonight.”

Colin smiled, even though his eyes were still closed. “You and Iggs walked over here alone. I’m pretty sure if you got jumped it would’ve been you defending his scrawny ass” 

“He’d be fine. He’s a Milkovich, and you guys are some tough motherfuckers” 

“Damn straight” Colin nodded, seeming more and more exhausted by the minute, “And don’t you forget it” 

Fiona smiled to herself. “Well Milkovich, guess I’m crashin’ then” she said as she stood up off the bed, pulling her winter coat and boots off, now standing just in her pyjamas, which were a little bit soaking wet from the snow. 

Upon peeking and eye open and seeing her, Colin grinned, which she took to be the Milkovich-equivalent of gut-busting laughter. “Quit mockin’ me and tell me where I could get somethin’ to sleep in, asshole” Fiona grinned. 

“Those are clean,” Colin gestured to a pile of clothes sitting on a chair in the corner, “Just haven’t gotten around to puttin’ them away

Fiona rifled through the pile until she found an old tshirt with minimal holes. She didn’t even realize how comforting the smell was until she was slipping it over her head. 

She pulled the sheet back, and Colin made room for her in the bed. She crawled in, laying her head on his outstretched arm. He opened his eyes for a minute, both looking at each other. 

“You know” Fiona said with a mischievous grin, “You should count your blessings that you’ve got a annoying little freshman girl nagging you into doing shit like not dying from asthma” 

“Shut the fuck up and let me sleep, Gallagher, Christ” Colin groaned, but Fiona didn’t believe it for a second. 

“You need anything else before sleep? Water? Medicine?” 

“I need you to shut your naggy ass up and fuckin’ sleep already” 

“Bite me Milkovich” 

Fiona burrowed her head in the crook of Colin’s armpit, which smelled like sweat and cigarettes, but she didn’t mind. His other hand gravitated to the back of her head, stroking her hair lightly. She was pretty sure he didn’t even realize he was doing it. 

“Don’t suffocate and die in your sleep, Milkovich” 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Gallagher” Colin smiled. 

Fiona never considered her life to be a blessing. In fact, caring for 5 kids at the ripe old age of 14 was usually a curse, but she lived for these silver lining moments where her caring nature was actually appreciated. 

She knew that nobody likes a hoverer, but more importantly, even people as independent as Colin needed someone to check in on them. As she breathed in the smell of his deodorant, feeling his fingers run through her hair, she was glad that she could be that person for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii lol...
> 
> So obvi this isn't an original head cannon its based immensely on What the Hell which is a rlly good fit you should go read rn if you haven't. So very me to write fanfic of a fanfic. Anyway sickfics are my comfort trope and I want to acc get decent at them so I figured I'd start practicing. 
> 
> Mwah,  
> V


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